The impact of a flood in low-lying countries will increase in future, mainly due to economic growth, but also due to subsidence and potential climate change. While natural conditions are expected to worsen, increased levels of protection are being demanded. Guaranteeing increased levels of protection requires techniques to design and implement highly reliable flood defence systems, as well as methods to assess the defences. The Dutch government wishes to implement a new flood risk management policy in the coming decade. The products of this programme are vital for making the transition.

The approach in the research programme builds and strengthens the relationship between disciplines.

The approach in the research programme builds and strengthens the relationship between disciplines. The knowledge needed for implementing multifunctional flood defences spans engineering, economic, social science, agricultural, ecological, and policymaking disciplines, and the participating research groups in this proposal contain expertise in all of the necessary disciplines. The disciplines are required to interact, because they are inter-dependent.For example, the flexibility of multifunctional flood defences needs as input the civil and urbanism design knowledge, since otherwise the link with reality is missing. Performing the research projects inter-dependently creates the added value of strengthening communication and knowledge transfer across disciplines.

The programme renews and strengthens the relationship between the research groups, within universities and between universities.

The groups address flood risk management from different angles (for example from an engineering point of view - ‘build strong levees’ - of from a landscape point of view - ‘room for the river’). This program brings these different perspectives together. The utility in the long term can be significant, because a shared scientific approach of flood risk management is of great importance. This might well expand beyond the current program, for example into a new Research Centre on Multifunctional Flood Defences, where the three universities and knowledge institute Deltares work together with each other.